Georgia Injury Law Blog

A new survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety indicates that Americans would rather have more government interference in matters of traffic safety to prevent auto accidents, truck accidents and motorcycle accidents. Of course, these accidents often result in serious personal injuries and wrongful deaths.   According to the survey, 62% of Americans want more traffic safety laws to reduce poor driving behaviors and minimize accident risks. What's more, 57% of respondents wanted their individual states to get more involved in making the roads safer. This is an indication to Atlanta car accident attorneys that there is plenty of support for recent moves in Georgia to enact mandatory seatbelt laws for all, and ban texting while driving for all motorists.

According to the survey, 70% of Americans feel that traffic safety laws should be strictly enforced. There's a lesson here for Atlanta and throughout Georgia which has recently banned texting while driving - laws can be meaningless unless these are enforced and violators penalized sufficiently. 

Additionally, the survey also indicates that there is plenty of support for tough teen driver licensing standards. 86% of the respondents believe that new drivers should be required to complete a driver’s education course before they are allowed a driver’s license. American motorists also want to see automakers invest in technologies that will help prevent accidents and keep motorists safe. 60% of the respondents wanted automakers to do more to make their vehicles safer. 

There are really no surprises in this survey for Atlanta car accident lawyers. One of the factors contributing to the declining rate of traffic accident deaths in Georgia has been strict state and local action against devastating driving behaviors, like drunk driving and distracted driving. Several states around the country, including Georgia, have passed laws aimed at keeping intoxicated motorists off the street. Newer laws prohibit drivers from texting while driving, and in some states, using hand-held cell phones while driving. More government action in the form of enacting new laws and enforcing current safety laws can help reduce accidents and keep people safer.

Posted By Robert Katz In Auto Accident Claims , Motorcycles , Seatbelts , Texting and Cellphone Use while Driving , Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

As Atlanta injury attorney I often notice people using cell phones while driving almost every day as we drive to work. Such behaviors significantly increase their risk of an auto accident, including those that result in serious personal injury. Unfortunately, this isn't just a fad that affects the young and teen drivers, but a dangerous phenomenon that also touches most motorists. This April, the focus will be on minimizing the number of accidents every year in Georgia caused due to distracted driving, as national and local transportation safety agencies mark National Distracted Driving Month. Reducing distracted driving is probably one of the best ways to decrease the overall number of car accidents in Atlanta and throughout Georgia.

April was set as National Distracted Driving Month through a special move by Congress, and across the country including Georgia, state and local transportation agencies will mark the month with special efforts to crack down on distracted drivers, and raise awareness about these practices. While much of the focus on distracted drivers this month is likely to be on those using cell phones while driving, there are all kinds of other distractions that increase the risk of an accident. In fact, some studies estimate that approximately 80% of all accidents are caused by some kind of distractions. These include motorists using cell phones, texting, changing radio stations, snacking, reading newspapers, applying makeup, and performing any other activities that take their eyes away from the road and their hands off the steering wheel.

However, the risk from the use of cell phones and other electronic communication devices while driving is especially greater, because cell phones can be found in almost every car. Besides, in a tough economy, American workers have felt under greater pressure than ever to constantly stay in touch with the office 24/7, even while they're driving.   There is also an entire section of Atlanta’s population that has been raised on Facebook and MySpace. For these drivers, not being in touch with their friends 24/7 via smart phone is, quite simply, unthinkable.

It is these challenges that we need to make a special effort towards this April.

Posted By Robert Katz In Distracted Driving , Teen Drivers , Texting and Cellphone Use while Driving | 0 Comments Permalink

Second Distracted Driving Summit to Be Held in September 2010

Buoyed by the success of the first National Distracted Driving Summit last year, the US Department of Transportation has announced that a second summit will be held on September 21, 2010 in Washington DC.

It's been an eventful few months since the first summit. During this period of time, several states, including Georgia, have made progress towards the banning of technological distractions at the wheel. In Georgia, we now have a ban on texting while driving for all motorists, and a ban on the use of cell phones while driving for motorists below the age of 18. The law is now in effect, and violators may be fined $150.

There have been several other signs of progress since the summit in 2009. Earlier this year, the federal administration banned federal employees from using their government-issued cell phones while driving government-issued vehicles. That was followed by a ban on cell phone use for commercial bus and truck drivers. A new victims’ advocacy organization, established on the lines of Mothers against Drunk Driving, has been set up. The organization is called Focus Driven, and the aim is to lobby for laws against distracted driving across the country. The Department of Transportation now has a website devoted exclusively to distracted driving-related issues. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has even taken his anti-distracted driving message to the United Nations, calling on all countries to spur efforts against this menace.

With 6,000 people killed every year and counting, it's clear that distracted driving is this generation's drunk driving. Many motorists are still unconvinced about the accident risks from using a cell phone while driving. That attitude must change. 

The Atlanta auto accident lawyers at the Katz Law Firm represent injured victims of automobile accidents in and around the metro Atlanta region, and across Georgia.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Texting and Cellphone Use while Driving | 0 Comments Permalink

The Governor’s Highway Safety Association has just released a report that outlines the different steps states have taken to combat distracted driving and thereby prevent auto accidents. The report will be of special interest to persons injured in auto accidents and their lawyers because Georgia has just passed a law that bans text messaging while driving for all motorists.

The report titledCurbing Distracted Driving: 2010 State Safety Programs details the activities and programs undertaken by various states to deal with the problem of distracted driving causing accidents. Georgia ranks very well in certain sections of the report. The state has included distracted driving as part of its Highway Safety Plan. However, Georgia does not collect data about distracted driving-related auto accidents. The National Safety Council estimates that approximately 28% of all accidents nationwide are linked to distracted driving. With statistics like this, it’s about time that Georgia also began collecting data about distracted-driving related auto accidents.

The report also contained the results of a survey conducted in 2008 by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia focusing on teen motorists. The survey found that only 28 % of teen motorists believed that talking on the cell phone while driving makes a difference to driving safety. A significant number of motorists in the survey, 57%,  said that they had seen their friends talking on the phone while driving a car. However, only 19% had witnessed a friend texting while driving.

Not surprisingly, the study also found that parental behaviors had a lot to do with how teen motorists view distractions while driving. Teenagers were much more likely to be distracted at the wheel if they saw their parents frequently texting, talking on the phone or using GPS systems while driving.

Overall, the report has a pat on the back for states around the country, including Georgia that have managed to take strong legislative measures against distractions while driving. Georgia recently joined a long line of states that ban texting while driving, and now, 28 states and the District of Colombia have bans on texting at the wheel.

If you know of a person injured in an accident by a driver who was texting or on the phone, touch base with a good Atlanta Auto Accident Lawyer.

Posted By Robert Katz In Texting and Cellphone Use while Driving | 0 Comments Permalink